In October 1997, the Australian government gave permission to Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) to open the Jabiluka uranium mine on the edge of the Kakadu National Park which is on the World Heritage List, in Australia's Northern Territory.
The mine is expected to produce 19.5 million tons of ore and generate 4.46 billion U.S. dollars to Australia's GNP over 28 years.
Jabiluka is considered a litmus test for up to 12 other uranium mines in Australia.
Conservationists and the Aboriginal "Mirrar" owners of the land oppose the mine while ERA insists that its environmental record has been proven by the 16-year operation of the Ranger mine, also located in the Kakadu Park.
Opposition leader Kim Beazley said the Labor Party would stop Jabiluka if it won the government in the October national election.
Shortly after construction began in mid June 1998, there were a series of public protests.
An ERA office in Darwin was firebombed.
A team from the United Nations World Heritage Bureau visited the site, then called for closing the Jabiluka mine because it poses a danger to the cultural and natural values of the Kakadu Park.
In November 1998, the U.N.
World Heritage Bureau, after intense lobbying by the Australian government, decided not to put the Kakadu National Park on its endangered list, but asked for a detailed report by April 15th 1999 on what has been done to prevent further damage and mitigate all threats to the Kakadu park by the Jabiluka mine.
